On the Market: 1 WTC Drama Continues and Cupcakes Aren’t So Popular Anymore

The China Center wants to downsize its lease at 1 WTC, Crain’s reports, halving its commitment from some 200,000 square feet to about 100,000. The downsizing comes directly after Durst announced that it planned to cut rents at the building by 10 percent for lack of leasing interest. It is also particularly ominous as the Center was the first private sector tenant to ink a deal for space in the building. However, according to The Wall Street Journal, the building already has a new private-sector tenant for one of the upper floors, advertising firm Kid’s Creative. Though the lease, at just 1,776 feet, feels more symbolic than anything else.

As racquetball courts aren’t quite the draw they once were, older buildings are adding modern amenities to compete with their neighbors, DNAinfo reports, kitting them out with pet spas and children’s play rooms.

Researchers are documenting the decrepit New York State Pavilion in Queens, The Wall Street Journal reports, scanning every last inch of the structure. The World’s Fair relic has avoided demolition until now, but would cost some $52 million to fix and will probably be demolished soon.

Residents are being pressured to take buyouts from buildings in Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy, according to Brooklyn Bureau, after new owners buy their buildings with the intention of paying off the mortgage by installing higher-paying tenants. However, many of them are resisting, realizing that the money won’t last for long in the New York City rental market.

Acclaimed Flatiron restaurant BLT Fish claims that the scaffolding from a neighbor’s construction project has cost it more than $500,000 a month in lost revenue, according to DNAinfo.

And while we’re on the topic of struggling eateries… Who didn’t see this coming? Crumbs, the purveyor of high-end, super-sized cupcakes that is not Magnolia, is struggling to survive, according to Crain’s. After all, the days when New Yorkers went crazy for cupcakes seems like a million years ago, as evinced by the plethora of $8 juices, quinoa slurries and expanding fitness chains. But the company’s founders are hoping that the butter bombs can be sold in supermarket to less health-obsessed Americans.